Country music star’s family faces new heartbreak just month’s after his death

The family of former Mavericks frontman Raul Malo have been hit by tragedy again just more than two months after his death.

Malo, 60, died on Dec. 8 after battling cancer, and his wife, Betty, took to Facebook recently with some more sad news.

"RIP Clementine …." she wrote along with a short video showing photos of the family's bulldog . "It's time to go be with your daddy who loved you so much. We're gonna miss you croquetica."

Fans were quick to respond with love.

"Oh, no!" Blair Carriker Donald replied. "Back in Raul's arms!"

"I'm so very sorry to read this, she was a beautiful little girl," Bob Collins wrote. "I'm happy I was able to play with her for a little while some years ago."

"My deepest condolences on the passing of your sweet Clementine," another wrote. "She's traveling with her Daddy again. Blessing and love for you all."

Raul Malo announced in 2024 that he had stage 4 colon cancer, and he shared his battle against the disease openly with fans. And, at times in 2025, it was a disease he appeared poised to put behind him, but in September he made the heartbreaking announcement that he had been diagnosed with leptomeningeal disease.

"Dear Friends, I want to update you all on my health, as things have taken a turn," he wrote on Facebook. "As it goes with cancer, it's a very unpredictable and indiscriminatory disease. I've developed something called LMD, which stands for 'get this (expletive) out of my head.' Treatment for this is radiation, which I will start tomorrow. We will probably jump into some chemo and are even looking at alternative therapies. But it's time to take to heart your words of resting & recovering, so that's what I'm going to do."

According to the Cleveland Clinic ,leptomeningeal disease is cancer in the cerebrospinal fluid and leptomeninges, which are membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. There is no cure for the disease. Instead, doctors focus on trying to slow the disease from spreading while maintaining the patient's quality of life.

Despite the ominous diagnosis, Malo continued to fight, and in November he headed to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas for treatment. But he was rushed to the hospital in early December and was never able to recover.

Read the original article on pennlive.com .